


A stupid mistake

by kakkakerssi



Series: Charles and Fabian [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 14:35:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21477949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kakkakerssi/pseuds/kakkakerssi
Summary: The plan had always been that Fabian would eventually tell his brother about his relationship with Charles. One in the future, that would happen and Sebastian would find out.And then Charles has a phone call with Fabian and doesn't realise who else can hear him.
Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Fabian Vettel
Series: Charles and Fabian [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548139
Comments: 20
Kudos: 55





	A stupid mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Set the Sunday evening after the 2019 GP in Sao Paulo (the one where Charles and Seb had a "fuck I did mistakes" moment on track)

"I hate everything and I can't wait to get out of this shithole and come back to you," Sebastian angrily typed into his phone. He'd found an empty booth in a quiet corner of the airport lounge and had made himself comfortable. His flight to Zurich was delayed by an hour, and even though it didn't affect him, Sebastian was annoyed that Charles's flight to Nice would now leave before his. Fucking Charles.

Deciding that his text message to his wife was too aggressive and whiny, Sebastian held the delete key, almost forcing his thumb through the screen of his iPhone until the text eventually disappeared. He tried again. "Flight is delayed by half an hour. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow xx"

Sebastian sent the text and placed his phone down on the table in front of him. He slouched back against the wall of the booth and pulled his hat down lower over his eyes, hoping maybe he could disappear for a while. He didn't want to think about his delayed flight; he didn't want to think about why he still chose to go racing when he could be at home all the time with his pregnant wife and his two young daughters; he definitely didn't want to think about Charles fucking Leclerc. Once Sebastian had forced all of the noise out of his head, the silence was blissful.

"No, I miss you too, Fabian. I don't think I'll have time to get up to you before Abu Dhabi. I think I'll have to go to the factory to do some work in the sim and talk about this fucking stupid crash this afternoon with Seb." 

Sebastian's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright. Charles's voice was clear; he was nearby. Frowning, Sebastian wasn't sure if he'd started hallucinating Charles now. Was he really that affected by his cocky, younger team-mate? At least hallucination Charles had one thing right - it was a fucking stupid crash.

Despite Sebastian's concentration on being present in the lounge, Charles's voice continued. It was then Sebastian realised he definitely wasn't hallucinating - Charles was sitting in the booth next to him, back-to-back. Charles had had the same idea about finding a quiet corner of the lounge in which to sulk until his flight.

"I don't really know what happened; it was all so fast. We were on the straight, and he was along side me, but I was faster, and then somehow we touched and my wheel just fucking _exploded_... Yeah, I'd overtaken him into turn one, going down the hill. I was so much faster than he was, but he still tried to come back... I know he's your brother, Fabian, but sometimes he's a real fucking idiot."

Sebastian tensed, closing his eyes, angry and confused. Charles could be a 'real fucking idiot' too sometimes, but at the same time, why was Charles on the phone to Fabian? It didn't make any sense. Sebastian knew that Fabian was loose friends with Charles's younger brother Arthur - occasionally Arthur had stayed over when racing nearby and then there was that photo Arthur had shared on social media of him and Fabian that everyone Sebastian spoke to teased him about "why can't you get along with Charles like your brothers do?" But as far as Sebastian knew, Fabian had never mentioned Charles.

Sebastian reached for his phone and opened his conversation history with Fabian. They hadn't texted in a few days; the last message was a 'good luck for this weekend' that Sebastian had received in the middle of a press conference and meant to reply to but hadn't. He smashed the phone icon and waited for the call to connect. Maybe he'd misheard; maybe Charles wasn't on the phone to Fabian.

"I'm sorry, the number you have called is unavailable right now. Please try again later," came the polite automated message. Fabian's phone was busy on another call. Sebastian put the phone down and continued to listen to Charles's side of the conversation.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called him an idiot. I'm just frustrated, you know? I had that stupid penalty and I tried so hard to get back up into the points. It was going really well and I'm annoyed at myself as much as I'm annoyed at Seb. The stewards said neither of us were at fault because we both could have stopped it. But we didn't, and I'm just sorry for all the guys at the team who worked so hard to build us those cars that we went and destroyed for no reason... Oh, he tried to call you? He probably wants to complain about what a terrible person I am... Yeah, call him back. He's your brother; he's important. I'll speak to you later, yeah... Okay, I love you, Fabian. Ciao."

Silence again. Sebastian grabbed his phone and his bag and left his booth, sliding into Charles's booth to sit down opposite him. He calmly placed his bag at his feet and his phone on the table, screen up. His mind was racing with hundreds of questions and no answers. 

Charles pulled his headphones out of his ears as Sebastian sat down opposite him. His eyes widened as he realised that for Sebastian to appear that quickly, he must have been nearby, and if he'd been nearby, he must have heard his phone call. Charles's heart jumped up into his chest and he felt like he could hear his pulse. This wasn't supposed to be how Sebastian found out; Sebastian was supposed to find out from Fabian himself, that's what Fabian wanted. Charles carefully wound up his headphones and placed his phone down on the table, his fingers trembling.

"How long?" Sebastian asked calmly, and when Charles didn't respond, Sebastian pressed further. "How long have you and my brother been..." He trailed off before finishing the question, not knowing the right words to use to describe their relationship, if it even was a relationship.

"It was three years in August," Charles replied quickly, moving to sit on his hands to keep them from shaking. His gaze was fixed on the table, he dared not meet Sebastian's gaze.

Sebastian's phone lit up and they both looked at the screen - incoming whatsapp call from Fabian Vettel. Sebastian answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear, his gaze fixed on Charles. His phone call wasn't a secret, but if Charles didn't understand German, that wasn't Sebastian's problem. He wasn't about to switch language just to make Charles feel more comfortable.

"Hi, Fabian, how are you?" Sebastian asked, trying to keep his tone bright. He knew he needed to talk to his brother more; in recent times they hadn't been so close and it felt like Hanna spoke to Fabian more than he did. "No, nothing's up, I just miss you, that's all. I haven't spoken to you in a while."

Charles continued to stare at the table as tears stung the corners of his eyes. This wasn't supposed to be how Sebastian found out. Sebastian was supposed to find out from Fabian, somewhere private, somewhere safe; not in an airport lounge in a country on the other side of the world. Not after a terrible weekend like this had been. Charles had always promised Fabian that he'd keep their relationship secret. Only two people knew; only Arthur and Daniel. Arthur knew because he'd introduced them; Daniel knew because he was a fucking nosy man who didn't know when to mind his own business. Nobody else knew and nobody else was supposed to know, and Charles had ruined it by being stupid. He lifted his hands, still trembling, and furiously wiped away the tears in his eyes; Sebastian wasn't supposed to see him weak.

Charles pushed his hair out of his face and sat on his hands again, wishing he understood more German. He wanted to know what Sebastian was saying, but he hadn't heard his name mentioned once. He understood basic words like 'flughafen' and 'Zurich' but not much more. He wanted to learn more German; he didn't want to be stupid. He didn't want to keep fucking up. He had so much respect for Sebastian and wanted nothing more than to be respected back, but how could he be respected when he kept fucking up?

"Sleep well," Sebastian said. "I'll speak to you later. Ciao." He ended the phone call and slipped his phone into his pocket, standing up and grabbing his bag to leave the booth.

"Seb," Charles started, a pleading tone to his voice as fresh tears formed in his eyes. Sebastian couldn't just leave with this hanging over them. When his phone started vibrating, lighting up with 'incoming call' on the screen and a photo of the garden at Sebastian's childhood home on the screen, he ignored it. "Seb, _please_-"

"Answer your phone, Charles," Sebastian said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and walking away from Charles, his heart heavy. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm much more comfortable writing bad things rather than good things. When I continue this, I'll try and make sure there's some positivity. All the characters deserve good things to happen to them. :)


End file.
